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19th Century Railway Carriage Renovated Into a Gorgeous Carbon-Negative Home in Kent

UK-based Simon Conder Associates converted a 19th century railway carriage into a carbon-negative modern day home. Part of a group of five beach houses called El Ray, and located near Kent, UK, the original building was terribly dilapidated but still showing architectural potential. It became a cozy daylit house that uses wind power and solar energy to create optimal thermal conditions and a dreamy atmosphere for an entire family.

The new house is cradled inside a highly insulated timber structure, with the old carriage as the center point of the main living area. Fully glazed elevations, in combination with smaller openings, frame stunning views of the adjacent lighthouse, coastguard station and nuclear power station. The beauty of the location is fully reveled through extraordinary views of the beach and sea from the observation platform that is the sloping roof deck.

The house has thick, well insulated walls, roof and floor, which minimize thermal loss and the yearly electricity bill. The external cladding and decking is made from a FSC certified hardwood called Itauba, while the floors and joinery are constructed from FSC certified birch plywood. A wood-burning stove is used sometimes as a supplement to the passive solar gain during winters and is combined with under floor heating powered by a wind turbine. The architects expect the house to generate more electricity than it will consume over the year. The excess energy would be fed back into the National Grid.

One thought on “19th Century Railway Carriage Renovated Into a Gorgeous Carbon-Negative Home in Kent”

If the wood come from Brazil, Certification, means nothing!
Certification here is all about fraud !
But don't worry, most deforestation here are to create more space to sustain animal production, cows, chickens. Direct or indirect.
Exportation are only a small percentage. :(
Visit Brazilian Forests, while they exist!

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Slideshow

19th Century Railway Carriage Renovated Into a Gorgeous Carbon-Negative Home in Kent

UK-based Simon Conder Associates converted a 19th century railway carriage into a carbon-negative modern day home. Part of a group of five beach houses called El Ray, and located near Kent, UK, the original building was terribly dilapidated but still showing architectural potential. It became a cozy daylit house that uses wind power and solar energy to create optimal thermal conditions and a dreamy atmosphere for an entire family.

El Ray Simon Conder Associates

1 of 7

UK-based Simon Conder Associates converted a 19th century railway carriage into a carbon-negative modern day home. Part of a group of five beach houses called El Ray, and located near Kent, UK, the original building was terribly dilapidated but still showing architectural potential. It became a cozy daylit house that uses wind power and solar energy to create optimal thermal conditions and a dreamy atmosphere for an entire family.

The new house is cradled inside a highly insulated timber structure, with the old carriage as the center point of the main living area.

El Ray Simon Conder Associates

2 of 7

The new house is cradled inside a highly insulated timber structure, with the old carriage as the center point of the main living area.

El Ray Simon Conder Associates

3 of 7

Fully glazed elevations, in combination with smaller openings, frame stunning views of the adjacent lighthouse, coastguard station and nuclear power station.

The beauty of the location is fully revealed through extraordinary views of the beach and sea from the observation platform that is the sloping roof deck.

El Ray Simon Conder Associates

4 of 7

The beauty of the location is fully revealed through extraordinary views of the beach and sea from the observation platform that is the sloping roof deck.

The house has thick, well insulated walls, roof and floor, which minimize thermal loss and the yearly electricity bill.

El Ray Simon Conder Associates

The external cladding and decking is made from a FSC certified hardwood called Itauba, while the floors and joinery are constructed from FSC certified birch plywood.

El Ray Simon Conder Associates

6 of 7

The external cladding and decking is made from a FSC certified hardwood called Itauba, while the floors and joinery are constructed from FSC certified birch plywood.

A wood-burning stove is used sometimes as a supplement to the passive solar gain during winters and is combined with under floor heating powered by a wind turbine. The architects expect the house to generate more electricity than it will consume over the year. The excess energy would be fed back into the National Grid.

El Ray Simon Conder Associates

7 of 7

A wood-burning stove is used sometimes as a supplement to the passive solar gain during winters and is combined with under floor heating powered by a wind turbine. The architects expect the house to generate more electricity than it will consume over the year. The excess energy would be fed back into the National Grid.